Keeta Holmes and Margaret Cohen

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Defining Success
Strategies for Assessing Collaborative Group
Projects

• Keeta Holmes and Margaret Cohen
• Center for Teaching and Learning
• University of Missouri - St. Louis
• Peggy_Cohen_at_umsl.edu and Holmeskm_at_umsl.edu

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Todays Objectives

• Promote student success in group projects
• Consider how learning-centered practices include
  group learning
• Identify strategies to focus successfully on
  collaboration
• Consider strategies to assess contribution of
  groups and individuals to a collaborative project

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Why are you sold on using group projects?

• What do you tell your students?
• What are the advantages for instructors?

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Messages to students

• This will be a good experience
• Youll learn to work as a team
• You dont want to do this complicated project
  solo
• Youll have a chance to assess others
  contributions
• The workplace seeks those who know how to work
  well on teams

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Advantages from the faculty perspective

• Opportunity for students to use and apply course
  content
• Students gaining skills to use in upper level
  courses
• Students learning to manage nuances of
  interpersonal work
• Getting to know my students more individually
• Increased efficiency Fewer projects to grade
  means more time for more thorough feedback

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Research confirms
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Why learning-centered? Why collaborative
learning?

• Learner-Centered Teaching (Weimer, 2002)
• Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
  Education (Chickering Gamson, 1987)
• Implementing the Seven Principles Technology as
  a lever (Chickering Ehrmann, 1996)
• How College Affects Students (Pascarella
  Terenzini, 19912005)
• National Survey of Student Engagement
• (Kuh, 1998 - present)

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Learning-centered teaching focuses on

• what students are learning
• and
• how they are learning

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What supports are available to you?
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Build a Framework

• Course and project objectives
• Instruction in effective group work
• Teaching students to monitor group meetings
• Guiding students to self assess contributions to
  a group
• Guiding students to assess group members
  contributions
• Consider grading options

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Avoiding Conflict

• Instructors Role
• Set clear goals
• Make expectations for team members explicit
• Assign roles (e.g. devils advocate,
  visionary, leader)
• Manage group size and makeup
• Stay close, check-in often

• Students Role
• Establish meeting times
• Encourage frequent interaction
• Rotate roles _at_ each mtg.
• Decide by consensus how to resolve conflicts
• Lack of participation
• Poor contributions
• Take turns talking
• Be open to persuasion

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Integrate a focus on how

• Make a plan.
• Be systematic.
• Plan small increments.
• Increase time on task
• Add interpersonal skills
• Teach project management skills
• Be prepared to assess and fine-tune.
• Expect to be successful.
• Keep trying.

cf. Weimers (2002) chapter 9 Making
learner-centered teaching work
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1. Objectives for course and projects

• Integrate your existing course/project objectives
  into the assignment
• Consider building process objectives into your
  course
• Demonstrate effective leadership skills
• Learn to be a productive team member
• Practice offering feedback to peers
• Learn objective ways to assess a peer

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2. Instruction in how groups take responsibility

• Develop own ground rules - Example
• Everyone prepares, participates, attends
• One person talks at a time (no side
  conversations)
• Everyone takes a turn at each role
• Leader, time keeper, note taker, energizer,
  evaluator
• Agree upon when/why a member is asked to leave
  group
• Assess use of roles and skills at each meeting
• Request project/group updates at mid-point
• Evaluate group members when project submitted

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3. Monitor group meeting
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Collaborative Groups Roles and
Skills Task/goals____________________Meeting
time/date______
Role Team members name Team members name Team members name Team members name Team members name
Project manager
Recorder/note taker
Conflict manager
Skeptic and timekeeper
Assessor
Team members names/ Team Process Skills
prompt and present
participated/presented ideas
eye contact and listening skills
used nonjudgmental language
checked for common understanding
worked to consensus
used role responsibilities
Comments on process at this meeting Members
signatures acknowledge meeting goals and
outcomes.
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4. Learn to Self-Assess
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Form for a Self-Evaluation Form for a Self-Evaluation
Your Name ___________________________________________________________ Instructions Evaluate your work in the group using the criteria below. Rate each criterion from 1 to 3, with 3 being the highest. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest. Your Name ___________________________________________________________ Instructions Evaluate your work in the group using the criteria below. Rate each criterion from 1 to 3, with 3 being the highest. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest.
Criterion Rating
Attended group meetings regularly and promptly.  
Contributed to the overall group project.  
Accepted a fair share of responsibility for the project.  
Completed assigned tasks on time.  
Accepted responsibility for and observed ground rules.  
What percentage of the work did you complete? ______ Total  
Describe your most significant contribution to the project. Other comments to justify your ratings Describe your most significant contribution to the project. Other comments to justify your ratings
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5. Learn to assess group members contributions

• Ask yourself
• Should this assessment be anonymous?
• Should I award points for this?

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Form for Evaluating Members Group Participation Form for Evaluating Members Group Participation Form for Evaluating Members Group Participation Form for Evaluating Members Group Participation
Instructions Evaluate each person in the group using the criteria below. Insert each persons name and rate him/her from 1 to 3 on each criterion. 1 is low. 3 is high. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest. Instructions Evaluate each person in the group using the criteria below. Insert each persons name and rate him/her from 1 to 3 on each criterion. 1 is low. 3 is high. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest. Instructions Evaluate each person in the group using the criteria below. Insert each persons name and rate him/her from 1 to 3 on each criterion. 1 is low. 3 is high. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest. Instructions Evaluate each person in the group using the criteria below. Insert each persons name and rate him/her from 1 to 3 on each criterion. 1 is low. 3 is high. The highest possible score is 15. Be fair and honest.
Criterion Name 1 Name 2 Name 3
Attended group meetings regularly and promptly.  
Contributed to the overall group project.  
Accepted a fair share of responsibility for the project.  
Completed assigned tasks on time.  
Accepted responsibility for and observed ground rules.  
Total your rating for each person
What percentage of the work did this person complete?  
Describe each person's most significant contribution to the project. Name 1 Name 2 Name 3 Describe each person's most significant contribution to the project. Name 1 Name 2 Name 3 Describe each person's most significant contribution to the project. Name 1 Name 2 Name 3 Describe each person's most significant contribution to the project. Name 1 Name 2 Name 3
Other Comments Other Comments Other Comments Other Comments
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6. Grading group projects

• Each group member submits self-evaluation and
  evaluation of those in groupAND
• Your choice of these options
• Shared Student Grade
• Group Average Grade
• Individual Grade Allocated Task
• Individual Grade Individual Report

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Example 1 Online International Marketing

• Undergraduate course with 120 students
• Before the redesign
• Instructor doing too much of the work
• All assessments were exams
• Class met in virtual meeting room no
  asynchronous activities
• Prompts for redesign
• Students requesting more asynchronous activities
• Desire to improve DFW rates
• Wanted students to process more

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Solution Asynchronous Activities for Groups

• 5 Case studies
• 3 Current Issue Research Papers
• Logistics
• Groups of 4-5
• Adaptive Release used to control access
• Training in virtual session and embedded in the
  assignment
• Strict Interim deadlines
• Tools Wikis, Voicethread

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Solution Asynchronous Activities for Groups

• Monitoring Student Participation
• Wiki Revision History
• Voicethread daily digests
• Participation tracking spreadsheet
• Assessment
• Shared group grade with deductions for students
  who didnt participate

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Example 2 Probation and Parole

• Undergraduate course with 50 students
• Prompts for redesign
• Desire to improve engagement students complained
  about discussion boards
• Desire to improve writing skills
• Instructor spent too much time editing drafts and
  grading papers didnt have time for discussions

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Solution Critical Friends and Group Work

• Case Studies
• Video discussions
• Response papers
• Logistics
• Groups of 2, then 4 (start small then grow)
• Preparing students to be critical friends
• Tools Group tools, Voicethread, Wikis,
  Assignment Tool
• Strict interim deadlines

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6. Considering Options for Grading group projects

• Each group member submits self-evaluation and
  evaluation of those in groupAND
• Your choice of these options
• Shared Student Grade
• Group Average Grade
• Individual Grade Allocated Task
• Individual Grade Individual Report

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Shared Student Grade
What is submitted One product per group How
to gradeAll group members receive the same
grade, regardless of individual contribution.
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Group Average Grade
Each students individual submissions (allocated
tasks or individual reports) are scored
individually. The group members each receive
the average of these individual scores.
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Individual Grade Allocated Task
Each student completes an allocated task that
contributes to the final group product and gets
the marks for that task only.
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Individual Grade Individual Report
Each student writes and submits an individual
report based on the group's work on the
task/project
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Student distribution of grade
Instructor awards a set number of scores and let
the group decide how to distribute them.
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In summary

• If you think you understand somethingapply it
  teach it to a peer
• Learn group skills as learn course content
• Include as course project objectives
• Emphasize learning for learning (not credits)
• Explain relevance of learning collaborative
  behaviors for profession
• Role of teamwork in program and profession
• Alert colleagues, chair to innovation pilots

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References

• Banta, T. Kuh, G. (March/April 1998). A missing
  link in assessment collaboration between
  academic affairs and student affairs
  professionals, Change, 40-46.
• Chickering, A.W. Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven
  principles for good practice in undergraduate
  education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7.
• Chickering, A.W. Ehrmann, S.C. (1996)
  Implementing the seven principles Technology as
  lever. AAHE Bulletin, 49(2), 3-7
• Millis, B.J. (2010). Cooperative learning in
  higher education Across the disciplines, across
  the academy. Sterling, VA Stylus.
• National Survey of Student Engagement
  http//nsse.iub.edu/index.cfm
• Pascarella, E. T. Terenzini, P.T. (2005) How
  College Affects Students A Third Decade of
  Research. San Francisco Jossey-Bass.
• Pascarella, E. T. Terenzini, P.T. (1991) How
  College Affects Students Findings and Insights
  from Twenty Years of Research. San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass.
• Weimer, Maryellen.(2002) Learner-Centered
  Teaching. San Francisco Jossey-Bass.
• Winchester-Seeto, T. (April, 2002). Assessment of
  collaborative work collaboration versus
  assessment. Invited paper presented at the Annual
  Uniserve Science Symposium, The University of
  Sydney.

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Thank you

• Were happy to send these copies electronically.
• Send request to holmeskm_at_umsl.edu

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